About · small studio, local trade
A studio built
for the trades.
Loadline is a small independent web studio, based in Gqeberha · Port Elizabeth. We build websites for local trade businesses — plumbers, electricians, solar installers, builders, salons, guest houses — because the work is won on a phone call, and most websites do nothing to help that call happen. Based in one city, built to work in any city.
The mark
Where the
name comes from
Inspired by the load line mark on a ship's hull: the line that says “this is where you're meant to be.”
A hull is only safe because a surveyor painted a limit on it and the load was honest. A business website is loaded the same way — and most of them sit a little too low without anyone noticing.
Based in
Summerstrand, Port Elizabeth, 6001
What this page will not say: no years of experience, no client logos we cannot show, no awards, no team photos with borrowed people. [Add the real figures once they exist.]
How this is run
Six rules, written down so they can be held against us
These are not values painted on a wall. Each one is a promise you can point at if it is broken.
- Fixed price, stated up front
- R1,499 once-off and R800/mo. No R30,000 invoice, no discovery phase, no hourly billing appearing at the end.
- Mockup before money
- You see a custom homepage mockup for your business before you pay anything. If you do not like it, you do not buy it.
- Seven business days
- Because the copy and photos are done for you, there is nobody waiting on a client to write text. Day one is a chat, then a mockup, then a live site.
- You own the site
- The domain is registered in your name and the site is yours. The monthly covers hosting and maintenance — not hostage-taking.
- No invented numbers
- No fake testimonials, no borrowed screenshots, no “300% more leads”. If a figure is not measured or approved, it does not go on a page.
- Plain language
- If something cannot be explained the way a plumber would say it, it is not worth building. No jargon as a substitute for thinking.
The idea
How much can your
site carry?
Cross a ship's load line and it does not sink dramatically. It just sits a little lower every trip, and one day the trip that would have been fine is not.
A local business website carries the same load: no number in the top bar, four seconds on 4G, no suburb named, photos of strangers, and a contact form posting into an inbox nobody opens. None of that looks like a disaster. It costs calls, quietly, every month.
So every build here is loaded to a stated limit — R1,499, seven business days, every enquiry on your phone — and nothing goes on a page that cannot be made true.
Hull section with the load line marked — the mark, explained
Working with us
What the relationship looks like
- 01
One conversation
A chat about your trade, your area and the jobs you want more of.
- 02
One document
A mockup and a price. No proposal deck, no retainer talk.
- 03
Review on your phone
You send changes over WhatsApp. No portal to log into.
- 04
Live in seven days
Domain pointed, Google profile linked, enquiries reaching your phone.
- 05
After that
R800/mo keeps it hosted and looked after. Cancel whenever you want.
Being straight
What is not offered
- No SEO retainer with a monthly report you will never read
- No social media management dressed up as guaranteed leads
- No paid-ad management — worth doing, but not what this studio is for
- No hosting lock-in: your domain and hosting stay in your name
- No “strategy workshops” billed hourly before anything gets built
Title block
- Studio
- Loadline Studio
- Based
- Gqeberha · Port Elizabeth
- Delivery
- 7 business days
- Base service
- R1,499 + R800/mo
Questions
The ones that come up first
What exactly do I get for R1,499?
A custom single-page website built mobile first, with tap-to-call and a WhatsApp button, a contact form that lands on your phone, Google Maps integration, your services and areas written for you, SSL, backups and uptime monitoring — live within 7 business days. Then R800/mo covers hosting, maintenance and support.
What is the free mockup?
Before you pay anything, we build a custom homepage mockup for your business so you can see exactly what you are buying. If you do not like it, you do not buy it. No deposit, no commitment.
Why 7 business days?
Because the copy and photos are done for you, there is no waiting on a client to write text or send images. Day one is a chat about your trade, the mockup comes next, and the site goes live inside 7 business days.
Do I own the site?
Yes. The domain is registered in your name and the site is yours. The R800/mo covers hosting, maintenance and support — not ransom. [Confirm the exact transfer terms in the written agreement.]
I already have a Facebook page that works.
Keep it — it is where your existing customers already talk about you. But you do not control the feed, and a customer cannot search for you on Facebook the way they search on Google. The site becomes the thing your Facebook page and your Google profile point to.
Do you only work with businesses in Gqeberha?
Gqeberha is home and where we know the local search landscape best — and all five showable builds right now are South African. But the process is identical in any city: your trade, your area, and a site built to show up for both. If you have a trade, a suburb and a phone number, the setup travels with you.